Seasonal

Kale peeked past the cracked door and grinned at the rise and fall of his mother’s breathing. His little feet bounced while he waited, his hand gripped tight on the door handle. He glanced at the hall clock once again, waiting for the second hand to complete its circle. Three. Two. One. “Mom! It’s eight o’clock. Christmas […]

Jim knocked on the door. No answer. He was sure his Grandmother was home. She wouldn’t have invited him and his sister if she wasn’t going to be there. He pounded on the door. “Granny,” he shouted. After waiting a few minutes, he tried the door. It wasn’t locked. The TV was blaring loudly which could […]

Jim Daley and Joe McCarthy had something in common. They died at 80 going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Walt O’Brien, their protege, found this out when he called the homes of both men on New Year’s Day, an annual custom for Walt, something he started doing years ago just to […]

You see the oddest things at Christmastime in America. The bigger the city, the stranger the sights. I was driving downtown to buy gifts for the family and enjoying bouquets of beautiful people bundled in big coats and colorful scarves. They were clustered on corners and shopping in good cheer amid petals of snow dancing in […]

It is a truth universally acknowledged that there is something special about an old, leather bound book. They are rarely found alone but stand row upon row shelf upon shelf often encased in glass in a large room. Their shiny leather covers and spines are embossed with gold letters muted only by traces of fingers that […]